


Heart-Shaped

by paperclipbutterfly



Series: Non-Canon Black Jack One-Shots [2]
Category: Black Jack Original Comics, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M, Jack Savage is still a dork bun, Light Angst, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, he'll get there, my lifeblood, nah, someday?, still love him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 07:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13699656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperclipbutterfly/pseuds/paperclipbutterfly
Summary: Jack Savage attempts to give his coworker, arctic vixen Cynthia Walker, a little box of candies for Valentine's Day, but it appears she's already made other arrangements for the holiday. What's a heartbroken hare to do?





	Heart-Shaped

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aoimotion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aoimotion/gifts).



> Because it seems I just can't get enough of these two (and dear aoimotion gave me her blessing), I bestow upon you, my dear readers, another drabble sprinkled with frustration, a little longing, and just a tiny bit of quiet contentment with darling dork agents Cynthia Walker and Jack Savage. 
> 
> A very happy Valentine's Day to you all. Enjoy. :)

Jack turned the box over in his paws again, and considered every possible implication that it might suggest before stowing it back in his pocket.

It was just a box of chocolates. Walker liked those, didn’t she? And it wasn’t heart-shaped. He thought that was an important detail. It was small and square, and that surely made it an acceptable and sensible gesture on this Valentine’s Day. To a coworker. Which was what Walker was.

A coworker. A professional. A damn good agent.

_Right._

He sucked in a deep breath and turned the corner of the hall that led to her office… then stopped dead in his tracks.

Jack knew full well that Cynthia was still in the office, but the ensemble that she was in came as a complete shock to him. She walked with her eyes on her cell phone down the hallway toward him, and as he stood stone still watching there was only one word that sprang into his mind to describe her.

 _Radiant_.

He wasn’t much for colors, but he thought the appropriate description for her dress would be _plum_. A deep royal purple that contrasted sharply with the soft, flawless white of her fur. Her amber eyes were the size of the moon, and shone brighter than the sun. She was a breathtaking beauty, an exotic flower, a celestial being.

And she was about to walk right into him.

“Careful there, Walker,” he managed to say, his words made more of air than of voice.

Her head and ears popped up, and she froze just a few steps from him with a petite little squeak of surprise. “Oh, Jack!” He thought that she looked flustered, like she’d just been caught with her paw in a cookie jar. “I… I thought everyone had already left for the day.”

“Ah, well yes, they have. Except for me and… and you, apparently. I had just, um…” Jack’s mind stumbled over itself, searching for an excuse that was anything other than the actual reason he was still hanging around here today of all days. “Just forgotten something in my office and, you know… came back for it.” He paused for a few moments, and then blurted out, “Quite an elaborate outfit for work, no?”

Cynthia’s expression turned sour. “I don’t recall asking your opinion about my attire.”

Jack frowned. “I didn’t mean to give an unwanted opinion, I just… I was thinking that I haven’t seen you wear that color before.”

Her head tipped up slightly and she glared down her muzzle at him. “Are you keeping tabs on my wardrobe, Mr. Savage?”

“Hardly.” He shoved his paws into his pockets and leaned against the wall with as casual an air as he was capable. His fingers fidgeted around the little box. “I was just thinking that… it suits you.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked, grinding her teeth against his statement. It felt like he was making fun of her, and she was preparing to whet her words to defend against such a verbal lambast.

“Is it not?”

Cynthia huffed in annoyance. “Was there something you wanted from me? I’m going to be late.”

“…For?”

She readjusted her handbag over her shoulder and stowed her cellphone in it as she shifted to the side of him. “What a question to ask. Are you aware of what day it is?”

“It’s Wednesday, of course.”

Her eyes flashed in irritation; now she was certain he was trying to make her feel foolish. “It’s _Valentine’s_ Day, you insufferable dolt.”

“Is that right? I admit that it slipped my mind… never was into that holiday.” He gave her a carefully blank look. “Have something special planned, then?”

“I’m…” Cynthia drew herself back; why was she still having this conversation with him?  “I’m just having dinner. Out.”

“You? Eating an actual meal?” He barked a joyless laugh that might have been made of every broken piece of him. “I don’t believe it.”

“Jack, I don’t _care_ if you believe it or not,” she said, an irritated sigh escaping from her lips. “I have somewhere to be right now, and you’re being a _bother._ So, if there’s nothing else, I really have to be going.”

“Right, of course.” His paws came out from his pockets as empty as his smile. He leaned forward in a little bow. “Have a lovely evening, Walker. I hope you enjoy yourself.”

She inched around him, relieved she was finally able to flee at last. “I’m sure I will.”

Jack watched after her retreating figure until she was out of sight, and stood as the deafening sound of the throbbing heart-shaped thing thundered in his ears.

*****

The firing range did nothing to soothe Jack’s mood, though he had obliterated many more targets than was strictly necessary. He had a light dinner alone at home, changed into more casual clothes, and took off for a run in the park.

He brought the box of chocolates with him to eat afterward. No reason to let it go to waste.

There were many couples out and about, enjoying the nice weather and the deepening sunset that was now painting the sky in bright, warm shades of yellow, orange, and pink. Small fluffy clouds dotted the ribbons of color here and there. No matter how he looked at them, they all appeared at least vaguely heart-shaped.

He ran in a circuit around the local park path without adhering to his normal exercise regimen, his breath coming harsh and ragged. Too many replays and do-overs of the afternoon’s monumental blunder were playing again and again in his mind to pay attention to the rate of the overwrought, heart-shaped muscle in his chest.

Jack looped the park until he’d lost track of the number of times he’d run past the little bench by the water fountain. Every time he zipped by he only registered briefly that it was empty.

Until it wasn’t.

He skidded to a stop at the turn as his eyes filled with the shades of white and plum and amber sitting by the fountain. When Cynthia had arrived there he couldn’t guess, but that was irrelevant. What concerned him was why, and why she was sitting alone.

Jack forced his breathing to slow, and made his way toward her at a brisk walking pace. He didn’t speak as he approached, but only gave a half wave as she tipped her head up to notice him at last. The bright golden hues in her eyes seemed to glisten, but if she’d been on the verge of tears, one look at Jack dried them up immediately. Which was fine, of course.

Tears didn’t suit her.

“What are _you_ doing here?” she asked him, her voice pitching higher in obvious frustration.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he countered, and stood on the grass at the side of the bench. “Is dinner already over? So soon?”

Cynthia opened her mouth to snap some retort at him, but no words came out. Eventually she just closed it again and looked away from him at the ground. The deepening twilight edged silence between them.

“May I join you?” he asked eventually, and pointed at the bench even though she still didn’t turn her eyes back toward him.

“Do whatever you want,” was the murmured reply.

“Look, Walker, if you don’t want me to stay…”

“God, Jack, I don’t care!” she exclaimed, flattening her ears and motioning at him with exasperated paws. “Either sit down or go away. Don’t just stand there looking… like that.”

He tilted his head. “Like what?”

“Like I just killed your pet canary.” Cynthia set her elbow on her knee and her muzzle in her paw, staring straight ahead. “Please. Don’t just stand there.”

Jack sat on the bench beside her at what he was fairly certain was considered an acceptable amount of space between them. “You didn’t get to have your dinner, did you.” It wasn’t really a question, but more of a statement.

“Spare me the rhetoric,” she responded, guarded words protecting a heart-shaped wound inside. “I don’t want your pity.”

“I would never dare pity you, Walker. I value my life too much.”

Jack was heartened by the ghost of a smile that tugged at her mouth. “You’re not as stupid as you look.”

“I would hope not.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the bench. “I take it that your choice of company tonight has been lacking?”

She sighed. “Present company excluded?”

“No, you can include present company, also.” He smiled at her as she finally turned her head toward him. “I never was much good at conversation.”

“Truer words were never spoken.” She sighed again and looked out at the last little bit of light on the horizon. The street lamps were beginning to come on. “He passed a bit too much time waiting at the bar. Got a bit… grabby. I made a scene.”

Explosives detonated behind his eyes at the thought of _anyone_ putting their paws _anywhere_ near her… but this was Walker, of course, and if Jack knew anything about her it was that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

That said… “How big a scene are we talking?”

“Ah…” She twisted the fabric of her dress between her paws. “It’s possible… I mean, I _might have,_ maybe, possibly… broken his nose.”

Jack burst out laughing.

“…in two places.”

He laughed even harder. “Well done. That’s a scene I would have liked to see.”

“Yes, well… you do love to watch me make a fool of myself, don’t you?” Her voice turned to bitterness in her mouth, and she clucked her tongue. “I should go.”

“Walker, wait…” He started to reach out to her, but pulled his paw back almost immediately.

“What is it now?” she asked wearily, tilting her head back to stare up at the light post above them. “Going to lecture me?”

“No, of course not. You, uh… you had a bad go of it tonight, and I can’t in good conscience let you leave without eating something first,” Jack said firmly, and dug the little box of chocolates from the cargo pocket on his pant leg. “Here.”

Cynthia looked at the box, and then at him. “This is Valentine’s candy.”

“Yes, well… you know, the stores practically give them away once the holiday is pretty much over.” He scratched at the back of his neck as she accepted it from him. “Consider it a consolation gift.”

She edged the top off and sniffed at the sweet chocolate pieces inside. Her ears perked at the pleasant scent as she plucked one up. “Mmmm… strawberry.” She popped it into her mouth with a contented hum. “I love strawberry.”

“Is that right?” Jack said innocently, and clasped his paws behind his head as he pretended not to watch her from the corner of his eye. “I had no idea.”

He’d never noticed it before, but he thought her paw pads were just a little bit heart-shaped. He smiled.

That suited her.


End file.
